Former Knicks president Phil Jackson had a French vision last summer with point guard George Hill in the middle of it.

According to an NBA source, if Jackson wasn’t ousted, Hill would now be the mentor for rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina. Not Jarrett Jack. Not Ramon Sessions.

According to the source, Jackson envisioned Hill being the type of cerebral guard to master the triangle offense and serve as a solid example for Ntilikina, whom the Zen Master tabbed eighth in the draft in June.

The source said Hill was ready to talk contract terms on July 1, interested in the New York assignment. Hill is friends with Knicks veterans Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah.

If your first response is to breathe a sigh of relief that the Knicks didn’t sign a 31-year-old point guard to an expensive contract, think again.

Hill ended up signing a three-year, $57 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, with only $1 million guaranteed in his final season. So, essentially, this can be a two-year, $40 million deal if the incumbent team so pleases.

That’s by far and away better than the four-year, $71 million disaster the Knicks gave Hardaway. Sure, he’s younger. But Hill would have been a good mentor for Ntilikina, as someone who can play both on and off the ball and who defends his ass off. Ntilikina, in many ways, could end up being a higher-end Hill when he reaches his peak.

More than that, the terms of Hill’s deal are just better. He can come off the books in 2019 (or 2020). Hardaway doesn’t wash off the ledger until 2021, up to two years later. And that’s a huge problem knowing the Knicks are paying Enes Kanter through next season and Joakim Noah through 2019-20.

Assuming Kristaps Porzingis gets his super max this summer, the Knicks won’t be enjoying real cap space anytime soon. Just as some of their contracts slink off the books, they’ll start paying KP big money (that he deserves), in addition to whatever’s left on Hardaway’s deal. And while they could wait out all these deals, we know they won’t. Besides, by the time their last non-Porzingis contract comes off the bottom line in 2021 (Hardaway), Ntilikina will be due for a big raise himself. Ergo, assuming Jackson wasn’t about to offer Hill a longer-term deal, he actually might have been on to something.